Beneath the Surface
by LadyAquatica
Summary: “Vicky? What are you doing here?” When a childhood friend of Kai’s arrives on his doorstep, drama ensues: a broken family, broken hearts, new bonds, and shattered friendships. All because of one girl. TalaOC


Hi everyone! Welcome to my first story. I don't really know what to say. I'm a pretty amateur writer and would appreciate constructive criticism.

Disclaimer:  
Beyblade and all its characters do not belong to me. They belong to Takao Aoki.

I want to thank **Silvan Arrow **for being my beta reader. Her stories are awsome! Without her, you probably wouldn't be reading this.

Anyway...  
Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter One**

"Is this it?" asked a taxi driver.

"Yes, thank you," smiled a young woman before handing the driver some money and stepping out of the vehicle.

As the car pulled away, the woman looked at the mansion that stood in front of her. She bit her lip and played with a strand of her light brown hair before stepping up to the door. But, she hesitated. Gripping her navy-blue beyblade with sky blue decals in her left hand, she looked into a window and saw her reflection. The coat she wore barely covered her petite frame. Her hair was sticking out of the bun it was put in and looked scruffy. Yet, her emerald green eyes sparkled despite the weary look on her face.

'Nadezhda (Hope), am I doing the right thing?' she thought.

'What do you mean, my Mistress?' asked the wolf in reply, her crystal eyes shining and dark navy fur giving off the impression of the night.

'Is it right for me to be coming to Kai instead of my father?' the girl asked her bit beast.

'Would you want to go to your father?' and with that, the wolf was silent.

'Nadezheda, I'm not sure I want to do this anymore,' the brunette said, playing with the fabric of her tattered, grey t-shirt.

Silence. 'Nadezheda?'

'Don't be nervous, Mistress,' crooned the wolf.

She took a deep breath and thought, 'I hope this is the right decision. There's no turning back now.'

She knocked on the door a few times and waited for the door to open. She waited in silence, a deafening silence. It was unnerving; despite her bit beast's soothing words, she began to feel nervous once again.

The silence was punctured a few moments later by footsteps and the opening of a door. A woman peeked outside and invited her in.

"Please stay here while I get Master Kai. Would you like anything to drink while you wait?" the maid asked.

"No thank you. I'm fine," she replied with a smile, taking a seat in the living room. When the maid had left, she allowed a frown to grace her face. "Robots, each and every one of them."

She heard footsteps and put the cheerful mask back on. The footsteps stopped abruptly when they saw her face.

"Vicky?"

"No shit Sherlock," she said, dropping the act.

"What are you doing here?"

"I've realized that I was wrong. And, I'm ready to give you a second chance. That is, if you let me. I'm sorry, Kai."

"I…I don't know what to say," Kai responded.

"I understand. I'll leave now," she said, getting up.

"Wait, Vicky, I didn't mean it like that. Stay. Please."

"Good," smiled Vicky. "Is it a good time to say I'm moving in?"

"What?" Kai asked, confused.

"It's true!" she beamed. "I've got to get back into school, but I have to do it while in living with someone responsible. I have a letter from the mayor in Osaka in my bag. Anyway, where should I put my stuff?"

Kai's mouth flew agape. This girl, whom he hadn't seen for about a year, had planned to move in with him without any word beforehand.

"Well?" she asked, getting impatient.

"I kind of have other guests," Kai said lamely.

"Great. You can introduce us later. As in, after I've settled in. Who are they?"

Sighing, Kai had a butler take Vicky's belongings to her new room and said, "Other Beybladers."

"Oh, that'll be fun," Vicky said as she was led away by the butler.

"Yeah, fun," Kai murmured to himself.

--

Kai couldn't help but be scared. No one knew he was friends with this girl. No one knew he had a regular life before he was thrown into the Abbey. Would they like her? While waiting for Vicky to get settled, he stared out the window in the living room and let his thoughts carry him back in time. They had met in Kindergarten and had quickly become friends. She had defended him from being bullied about his strange hair. They were torn apart only a few months later by Voltaire, but they went on with their lives. It was as if what happened during those few months was nothing at all. But, only a year ago, he heard from her again.

Flashback

"Hello?"

"Kai? Kai, I… I need to talk to you. Please don't hang up," cried a desperate voice from the other end.

"Who-" Kai began to ask.

"It's Victoria. Victoria Kovaleva. Remember? From Kindergarten. Please, Kai, please, I need your help," said the frantic voice.

After a few seconds of racking his brain, trying to remember this girl, Kai responded, "What do you need?"

"I need you to pick me up at Ostankino Tower," answered the anxious girl.

"Yeah, sure," Kai said, wondering what was going on.

"Thank you." And the line was dead.

Only after Victoria was in the car, did she tell him what was going on.

"I can't stand it anymore Kai! My mother died two years ago! But my father had the gall to start dating again and even married this witch! I hate her! And now I have a new sister! They expect me to be soo happy for them! But I left! And I'm never going back!"

"Don't you think that's a little harsh?" asked Kai as they neared his house.

"No, I don't," said Victoria, glaring at the pavement. "He didn't even tell me. It's like they forgot I existed until they got engaged. He didn't even care that I hated the woman."

The next day, she was gone. And in her place was a note.

_Kai,_

_I'm sorry I left in such a hurry. And I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye. But I can't stay in Russia any longer. Not as long as he's here. I withdrew some money from your bank. I hope you don't mind. I'll repay you, someday._

_-Victoria_

--

The girl in question brought Kai out of his wandering thoughts. "Kai! How do I look?" Vicky asked jokingly.

Kai turned around to look at the girl who had so suddenly re-entered his life. It was supposed to be a formal event, much to her displeasure, and she was supposed to look nice. Of course, she just had to be wearing pants.

Kai gritted his teeth. She'd only been here a few hours, and she was already getting on his nerves. "Victoria, go put on a dress." It wasn't a suggestion; it was an order.

After seeing the murderous look on Kai's face, Victoria's mischievous grin abruptly deflated and she went to go change.

Sighing, she wondered aloud, "What should I wear?" She opened the closet door and took inventory. There were several dresses for her to choose from. She had seen some of the dresses before in a window display, but she never would have thought that she'd actually be able to wear them. Apparently, they were very popular. Kai said that the other female guests picked them out; he just paid for them.

"Ah! I can't decide! What do I wear?" Vicky cried in desperation. Formal attire had never been her strong suit.

There was a knock on the door. Sighing, she got up to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Um, I kind of heard you… wondering what to wear. I can help if you want," said a girl with shoulder-length brown curls and a pink dress¹.

Vicky smiled and invited her in. "I'm Victoria. But call me Vicky."

"Hilary," she replied.

"So, Hilary, what do you think I should wear?" Victoria asked, showing her the wardrobe.

"Oh. Wow. Those are beautiful. What are you wearing them to?" Hilary asked, looking at the beautiful dresses.

"The party later on," Victoria answered dully.

"Really? I thought I knew everyone that was going. I just assumed you had rented out the room for the week or something," Hilary said.

"I kind of just…popped in. Kai and I haven't really spoken in a while and I decided to come visit him. It was supposed to be a surprise. He's going to introduce me to you all later. So you have to act surprised," explained Victoria.

"Oh. Okay. How about that one?" Hilary pointed to a maroon baby doll². "It's cute."

"Isn't it a bit too short?" Victoria asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nah. Some of the other girls are wearing knee-lengths. Well, more like half," Hilary replied.

Vicky's brow creased in thought, and she replied a bit hesitantly, "I dunno…I want to make a good first impression. I would rather know who I'm dealing with before I wear something too…risqué." Her expression abruptly turned mischievous. "Besides, Kai told me this thing is going to last a while. I have plenty of time to make all the guys drool," she added with a grin.

Hilary laughed good-naturedly at her response. "Hah! That's awesome. I'm sure we'll be good friends." Now that she had a better idea of what Vicky was looking for, she returned her attention to the selection of dresses. "Hmm. What about this one?" Hilary pointed to a flowing turquoise gown³.

"That's perfect! Thanks, Hilary," Victoria said smiling.

"Do you want me to do your hair and makeup too? All the girls got together to help each other earlier. I'd feel bad if you didn't get any help," Hilary offered.

"Sure. Go ahead. I'm not really good with makeup anyway," Victoria admitted.

"Okay. Just relax and leave everything to me!" Hilary reassured.

--

Kai was pacing; Kai was nervous. Being nervous and pacing was never a good sign. But, it was even worse when it was Kai who did the pacing. Everyone else was having a grand old time, chatting and what-not in the ballroom. But not Kai; Kai, the one who happily offered to let BBA and Mr. Dickenson use his estate as the site of the "1st annual BBA Reunion party." Kai, the man who had stated that everything was perfectly fine the day before was now pacing around the room, nervous as hell.

Tala, seeing his friend's obvious frustration, walked over and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Kai said quickly.

"It's obvious something's wrong. Right Bryan?" Tala turned around to pull on his friend's sleeve.

Bryan simply nodded.

"Hey, what you staring at Bry?" asked Tala before turning around.

Walking down the staircase was a pretty brunette with a pair of stunning green eyes. Her hair delicately framed her face and gently brushed against her shoulders. The light brown curls bounced softly with every step. Her turquoise dress flowed around her legs, giving off the impression that she was floating.

Kai coughed for everyone's attention as the newcomer descended from the final step and said, "Everyone, I want you to meet Victoria Kovaleva. She's a friend from when I was five."

Rapid whispers carried throughout the room as Victoria stepped up to speak.

"Hello everyone. I hope we can all become good friends throughout the next week or so," Victoria smiled graciously before walking into the crowd to find Hilary.

As Kai watched his friend wander through the crowded room, he couldn't help but think to himself, 'I really hope I made the right decision…'

**Author's Note**

**Um, yeah. To see images of the pictures, follow the following sites.  
That sounded so much better in my head.**

**1 **www.only /purchase/ productdetail.asp?cgmain102&cgsub131&prodid460

**2 **www.only /purchase/ productdetail.asp?cgmain102&cgsub120&prodid590

**3 **www.only /purchase/ productdetail.asp?cgmain102&cgsub125&prodid380

**Thanks again to Silvan Arrow!**

**Anyway, please review!  
Bye ;)**


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